MENDON - Residents dealt a one-two punch to Blackstone Valley Tech at Friday's annual Town Meeting as they voted less money than requested to fund the school's operating budget and failed to support a $2.9 million expansion project.Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School officials are now looking to the other 12 member towns for approval of the budget and expansion plan.Town Meeting voters Friday declined to support an expansion plan that would add three new programs to the school's curriculum. Town officials said the expansion - and projected enrollment increase - would imperil municipal finances. Advocates said voting for the expansion would have been a show of support to a strong school district.The expansion plan narrowly lost on a 32 to 37 vote. Also, Town Meeting voted to accept the Finance Committee's recommendation to subtract $10,801 from Mendon's proposed BVT assessment of $762,000.Four other towns would have to vote as Mendon has, though, for the budget reduction to take effect.BVT Superintendent Michael Fitzpatrick said Monday that he hoped the night would serve as a learning experience."Vocational tech students know full well that few things come easy, and they will likely view it as another obstacle to overcome," he said. "While the Finance Committee was lobbying to reject our request, our students - including those from Mendon - were out earning golds and other awards at the SkillsUSA competition."Fitzpatrick noted that Mendon is the first of the district's member towns to vote, and said an early setback does not necessarily augur disaster.In terms of the proposed expansion, Fitzpatrick said that Mendon's share of the project would have been about 6 percent of the $2.9 million figure."It's a relatively small portion, but every partner counts," he said.Fitzpatrick said that the degree to which the expansion could change is dependent on how the rest of the towns vote. He added, though, that Mendon may not be able to take advantage of the extra seats the expansion would add.Mendon Finance Committee Chairman Rich Schofield said the committee did not wish to reject BVT's requests, but felt compelled to do so because of increasing financial obligations."There's no joy in it - absolutely no joy in it," he said. "What we wish is that so much pressure was not put on municipalities by the state's unfunded mandates."Schofield noted that the state plans to place more of the burden of funding schools on towns by reducing its contribution to school districts."In my view, the financial stability of Mendon in the short term and long term is the most important thing," he said.Mike Gleason can be reached at 508-634-7546 or mgleason@wickedlocal.com. For news throughout the day, follow him on Twitter @MGleason_MDN.